SearcherS part 5b is done. The timeline, I'll do it later; I have to catch up on a summer assignment.

Spoiler for SearcherS part 5b:

Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
1:42 P.M.

“Well…I’m done…” Rushuna said to everyone after gathering the necessary information that Satoshi needed.

“Well then, let’s see what we have here.” Satoshi replied while getting up from the chair. Looking at the screen, there was a surprising large amount of files that Rushuna retrieved. “Strange…I never expected that much.”

“Well, there’s other things you need to know, too, baka.” Saika replied, irritated at Satoshi not thinking more broadly at the moment. He just sighed. “Fine, fine, let’s just see what we have here….”

“If it wasn’t for us, you guys would be stuck looking for most of your targets…” she thought, not knowing that she was speaking out loud to everyone. “And if it wasn’t for me, you guys would be in prison already.” he replied. “How did you manage to hear that?”

“You just said it out loud.” he replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. She just grumbled to herself while Rushuna just laughed.

After a while, everyone managed to calm down and get back to work. “So, let’s see what we have here…”

Tuesday, June 3, MC 0075
1:45 P.M.

Vincent groaned as he struggled to get up after being smacked into a wall by Betrüger. "Damn it…he’s still as strong as before.”he thought, managing to get up on his feet, ready to strike again. “You’re still weak, boy.” Betrüger taunted, wanting him to fall for the same trick he had done 5 days ago. In reality, Aurion was doing what Satoshi asked him to do, and he proceeded to find out in his own way.

“Aurion-sama, stop this now! Please!” Armay pleaded, still caught in one of Aurion’s binds. “Not yet. I still don’t know that much.” Aurion could only say to her, focused on what was happening, and she stopped, resigning to just see what happens. She then saw Satsuki and Margaret trying to get out of their binds, trying to help Vincent. “It’s no use…” she said to them quietly. “These will take a long time to break…”

“Demo…there must be some way…” Satsuki replied, whispering. “There has to be….”

“I’m afraid that it’s almost impossible…even the Aces have had some trouble trying to break through. For now, just watch.”

Vincent was still oblivious on what was truly happening, and still fought right into Aurion’s plan. He tried to slash Betrüger with Blattform, but he either dodged them or blocked them with his Device. “Shell Bullet, load cartridge!” Vincent yelled. “[Ja.]” Shell Bullet replied, and three cartridges ejected out. “[Slash Diver!]” Vincent then jumped on top of Betrüger, and dived down spinning, the blade leading the way. Betrüger didn’t expect this, but he barely managed to dodge the attack. The blade got stuck on the floor, but Vincent followed it up with a kick aimed at Betrüger’s head. Betrüger got side-swiped by that kick and got hit, sending him back a bit before recovering, enough time for Vincent to get the blade out. “That was…unexpected.” he commented as he rubbed his right cheek, hoping that this time, he would become an equal opponent.

“I haven’t seen Vince do that…” Satsuki said, surprised. In all of her time training with him, he had never been seen actually doing that. “It must be something he was saving.” Armay commented. “It might…” she replied. Satsuki could see it in his eyes; his former personality was starting to come back, little by little. “Ne, Sat-chan, Vince is doing good, right?” Margaret asked her, wanting to know. “Yeah… he is…” she replied, but Satsuki was still staring at him, happy that with each second that Betrüger was on the defensive, another little part of Vincent came back. “Go for it.” she silently cheered on.

Aurion seemed like he was looking at the battle, but he had heard the comments. “Sorry to break it to you.” he thought, having heard Satsuki’s comments. “But I’m done getting Shell Bullet’s info. Time to turn up the pressure….and I know who to use as bait…I’ll let him fight with Betrüger for a while.”

Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
1:47 P.M.

“…Now, what about this?” Satoshi asked Rushuna, pointing to another file. For the past 5 minutes, they were checking the files that were gathered. Besides reports from other units, nothing else was useful. Satoshi took a while to stretch, and Cipher started speaking to him. “[Isn’t this some sort of goose chase?]”

“I don’t really think so; these people are great at finding something.” he said to Cipher, assuring him.

“[Still, it might be one of their “off” days…]”

“Just trust me. Sooner or later, they’ll find som-“

“FINALLY! Something big!” Saika yelled out, and soon, Satoshi was near both of them, looking at the screen. “Well, good job, Rushuna.”

“Arigato…” she said shyly, but appreciative of the complement. “Well, let’s take a look.” Saika said, confident that there was something important. There were some videos and schematics about a sort of Device. On the top left, the name came in: Kristallnacht. “Kristallnacht Device?” Satoshi asked, puzzled at what it was. “I haven’t heard about a Device named like that.”

“It’s a failed project, I guess.” Saika concluded. “No mention is made of it from any public or private sources, but the information is still there.”

“The TSAB must have been trying to hide something then. Let’s see what this Device could have done.”

Rushuna agreed and took a look at the schematics and the reports on it. “The Device seems like a tube that shoots out a beam of light.” she said. “Nothing unusual, there…” Satoshi replied, still thinking. “I’ve seen Devices like that beforehand.”

“It’s not the look, I think…” Saika replied. Puzzled, Satoshi didn’t know what she meant until she explained further. “Look down, there’s something on the Device’s abilities.” Rushuna scrolled down, and started explaining it to all of them. “It says that its AI was advanced in a passive way.”

“A passive way? How?”

Looking down, Rushuna took some time to read it fully. “It’s complicated if you try to read it as it is, but the main part is that the AI controls the user.” Saika and Satoshi exchanged looks at each other, then at Rushuna, confused. “What do you mean?” Satoshi asked. “Is it like a Unison Device or something?”

“No…” she replied softly. “Microscopic wires penetrated the nerve systems of the user; they didn’t feel a thing.” She then stopped for a while. “Something wrong?” Satoshi asked.

“No…it’s just…”

“Just what?”

“If I’m reading this right, then it means the AI takes over a person’s motor, perceptive, cognitive, and decision making abilities, making them a better combatant.”

“What the? Adjusting someone’s physical abilities with a Device? How is that possible?” Satoshi thought as he was hearing Rushuna’s explanation. “Strange…so it could make someone who’s a sloppy fighter able to face someone experienced?” Satoshi asked. “If you put it that way, it could.” Rushuna replied. “Then how?”

“Wait, more tech stuff…” she said, reading through. “From what I’ve seen, microscopic wires are sent through the palm of the user’s hand by the AI when they are in combat. The wires then travel through the nervous system, attach themselves in the brain, and starts sending small nanomachines that adjust the user’s functions for combat.

“I don’t understand….” Saika commented, scratching her head. “Basically, small man-made machines affect your brain to fight better.” Satoshi said, trying to explain it to her in layman terms. “Then how come the Devices were cancelled?”

This time, Rushuna stopped looking at the computer screen and took out her glasses, looking down at them. “It was found out that the Device and AI eventually took over the users themselves, and their brain was so used to the nanomachines, that any attempt to take it out would prove fatal to them. As long as the wires could reach the brain, they were fine. But the wires limited them to release their Devices only a very short distance or they would die.”

“A slave to technology…” Satoshi said to himself. “[They become the Device itself.]” Cipher added, and everyone nodded their heads in agreement. “So…what does this have to do with Betrüger?” Satoshi asked. “His Device, Plageius, is one of those Devices. He was the last test subject and was given Plageius. But….something went wrong.”

“Something…went wrong? What do you mean?”

“It says here that Plageius was the most complete of all of the Kristallnacht Devices, and had a special ability. It allowed the user to manipulate small magic particles, allowing the user to do several attacks not seen by conventional magic systems.”

“That explains Betrüger’s ability and his powers….” Satoshi mused, thinking about what else could he do. “There’s more.” Rushuna added. “There’s a video of the final experiment where he was involved in…do you want to see it?”

“Sure.” Satoshi answered, and the video started. It was a camera feed, taken for study. It showed several scientists and Betrüger himself, testing the abilities of it. Of particular note were two scientists looking at him nearby.

“Well, how is Test-C0025 doing?” the scientist on the left asked. “All functions normal.” The scientist on the right replied. They then started to talk to each other.

“Well, I think that-“ Suddenly alarm bells rang out, and both of them went back to their stations. “Look at Betrüger.” Saika pointed out, and it showed him kneeling down, holding his head in pain.“All functions are starting to drop! Get some personnel in there!” the scientist on the left screamed in the intercom. What happened next was murder. A couple of control personnel came into the room, only to get cut into pieces. There was no mercy; the camera showed everything. There was blood everywhere, even on the window above, where someone’s cut up body slammed into it and slid off Rushuna couldn’t bear to watch, and Saika was starting to back away. But Satoshi kept on looking. Betrüger then started to speak. “Die…die…die…DIE!” The camera then showed one of the scientists floating, similar to what Betrüger did 5 days ago, and he being smacked repeatedly into the window until his blood made a big splat onto one of the machines he was working at. The other scientist tried to run away, but Betrüger already got a hold of him. “P-Please.D-D-Don’t!” he yelled before screaming while his body was being torn up from all of the debris of the room before being sent to the direction of the camera, which turned into static.

“….My God.” Saika said, shocked at the carnage. Rushuna was crying, and Satoshi took some time to let her cry out her tears. Words were not enough for what Satoshi saw. “Take some time to calm down; it’s better for you.” Satoshi said to Rushuna, comforting her. Both Saika and Satoshi just stayed silent after that.

Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
1:49 P.M.

“Alright…now it’s time…” Aurion thought as he started to tighten the pressure on Vincent. He had been fighting Betrüger for quite some time now, and it seemed like he had the advantage, playing right into Aurion’s hands. “Now, let’s see if you could handle this…”

“Betrüger, you’re going-“ Vincent taunted before the room suddenly turned into dark mix of colors, all distorting his view. “Is he doing that thing again? I have to stop him then…” he thought as he charged straight at Betrüger in an attempt to stop him, but was blocked by familiar voices. It was everyone else, trapped by several cloaked people. “Guys! I’ll get you out of there!” Vincent yelled, trying to move before Betrüger interrupted him. “If you try to save them, they die.” he said coldly to him.

“Aurion-sama! What the HELL?” Armay screamed out to him, trying to make sense out of what was happening. “He just recovered, and now YOU want to put him back again?” she added, still angry at him She tried to get up from the bind, but it was no use; all she could do was sit there and scream at him. “This IS how he will recover.” Aurion said to her. “Why? WHY do you have to go so far?” Satsuki yelled at him, seeing what was happening. “He’ll need to face this, coddling him is not going to help him.” he replied, which made everyone silent. “He’s going to learn…one way or another.”

“Agh, what to choose? What to choose?” Vincent’s mind was wracked. Risking it all to save his friends or choosing to fight alone for the sake of their safety?

Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
1:52 P.M.

“You feeling better?” Satoshi asked Rushuna, who was sitting down on another chair, starting to get back to normal. “Uhuh….” she said softly, still bothered by what she saw. “I feel guilty now, for pushing someone into something that they should have seen…” he thought as he looked again at Rushuna, who was an emotional wreck a minute ago. “Look, Rushuna, I’m sorry for forcing you into something like that…” Satoshi said to her, guilt still bothering him. “I-I’m sorry, too…” Saika said to her also. She stood silent for a while, looking at both of them, then said sincerely, “While I was bothered by what I saw…you don’t have to be guilty.” All of them stood silent for a while before Satoshi broke the silence. Taking a moment to breathe, he replied with a smile, “Thank you.”

“Now, let’s get back to what we were doing.” Rushuna said, this time ready. “Then, let’s get started!” Saika said out loud, happy that she was back. Getting back on the computer, Rushuna started to find other things that could help Satoshi out. Searching through camera feeds where Betrüger was last seen and pictures, she realized something. “That’s weird…”

“What is it?” Saika asked, and two pictures showed up, along with a profile. “I was seeing several current feeds from where Betrüger appeared, and looking at him now, it’s heavily different from the profile made for him.” Rushuna replied. She was right, the current look of Betrüger was way different from what the profile said. “He does look different…maybe.”

“Rushuna, run a scan of any TSAB members matching that face.” Satoshi asked. A bizarre request, but he had to make sure that there wasn’t anybody else posing as him. “Why?” Rushuna asked, puzzled and confused. “I have a hunch…”

“You better be following something here…” Saika said to him, wary that he might be following a dead end. “Alright then…” The computer then scanned the picture, searching for any matches. “[Hope to see any matches?]” Cipher asked him. “I’m hoping from 1 person to about 3 people.” Satoshi answered. “[You’re pretty confident…]” Cipher remarked. “I just have this feeling.”

“We got something!” Saika said out loud, and it was as Satoshi guessed; that there was a match between the Betrüger right now and someone. “There’s something wrong, I think…” Rushuna said to both of them. “Something wrong? Nobody else should know that we’re inside; you already took care of that.” Saika argued, knowing that Rushuna was one of the best hackers on the whole planet. “No, we haven’t been found. It’s the file itself. The person's dead.”

“Hmm…” Satoshi was thinking about what was happening. “I’ll just see who it is anyway.” he concluded in his mind, ready for mostly every possible happening.

“Alright then, open the file.”

As Rushuna opened the file, it shocked Satoshi terribly. He was definitely not prepared for this.

“…M-Masaka?”

Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
1:55 P.M.

Still, Vincent tried to charge at Betrüger, but everytime he did, his friends would suffer by Betrüger’s own hands. “Charge at me fully, and they will suffer. Go for them, and they will also suffer.” Betrüger’s words echoed in Vincent’s mind as he was frantically deciding on what to do. “I want to attack…but everyone is in trouble. Agh! I hate decisions like this!” he thought. Still inside, everyone was watching, seeing what he would do. “Stop it!” Armay said in a final attempt to stop Aurion. He just replied, “No, not yet,” crushing any hope that Vincent would come out of this unscathed.

Laughing at Vincent, Betrüger just taunted him. “You’re just a dog, confused at where to go.”
He was stuck, with both ways meaning death to his friends. “Kuso, kuso, KUSO!” he thought as the weight of his decision took a heavy toll on him. “Great…he’s breaking.” Aurion thought as Vincent finally made his decision. He went straight at Betrüger, landing a kick at him, which seemed to knock him out. “Great, now’s my-“ he thought before suddenly remembering Betrüger’s own words.

He looked in shock as everybody else was down on the ground, their bodies devoid of life. “You made a big mistake, boy.” Betrüger told him coldly. “No…NO!” Vincent thought as he fell down to his knees, defeated again. He held his head in shock, and he laid there, on the floor, nearly a former shell of himself. “I-I…I- couldn’t…” he muttered to himself.

Armay, Satsuki, and Margaret couldn’t believe it. “No, please…no…” Satsuki thought as he truly changed, apparently for the worse. Vincent, meanwhile, was still on the ground, when Betrüger taunted him yet again. “Ah, your friends are dead, especially the leader and that sniper and Unison Device. I found your..” Vince stopped listening, and he began to remember all of the things that Betrüger had done to him. Slowly, he started to get up, now fueled by his own hate for him. “I…hate…you!” he yelled, and charged at him, but he missed. Still, he attacked Betrüger until he was severely tired. He could barely stand, and yet, his hate was pushing him more and more.

“Well…you’re weak-“ Betrüger said before, in a blink of an eye, Vincent saw Satsuki herself, but without Margaret. Strangely, she was in uniform and not in her Barrier Jacket. “so, I’ll finish you off.”

Aurion knew what he wanted Vincent to do. He turned on the intercom, and finally spoke to him. “You have a choice. Attack her or not. One thing’s for sure; Betrüger’s nearby.”

“Aurion? What is this? I need some help here!” he yelled to him.

“You can only make that choice. Do it.” He replied.

Vincent was forced to make another decision. “Attack her or not. One thing’s for sure; Betrüger’s nearby…” This time, he picked the wrong one.

Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
2:04 P.M.

“I should be going now. Thanks for all your help.” Satoshi said to both of them. He had learned a lot about Betrüger from those two. “[ I guess you were right.]” Cipher said to Satoshi as they were leaving. “I-I just can’t believe tha-“ he replied before his head started to ache again. This time, it was painful for him, before finally collapsing on the store.

“[Hey! What’s-]”

“Satoshi! Hey, what-“

“Sato-kun! We n-“

He was now in another place, this time in a training arena of sorts. “What is this place?” he thought to himself. “I don’t know exactly what this place is, but, it feels….familiar.” As he walked straight through, he suddenly had another headache and he fell down. When he woke up again, he was now down on the floor of the training arena itself. “Get up, faker, you did that on purpose.” a voice commented. It seemed to be approaching towards him. Finally, the person showed up. “That’s the shirtless person I saw before.” he thought. He extended his hand out towards Satoshi. Although he was seeing through the eyes of someone, he could not control them. “It’s like I’m a spectator…but for what?”

Finally, the scenery disappeared, and everything was black. Eyes opened up, albeit weakly, and he realized that he was in some tube with four scientists watching him. He could tell that they were scientists, but he couldn't discern any other details.

“SPII-000: Healthy, has the greatest chance to succeed.” one of the scientists replied about him.

“He’s a perfect subject; strong, well-adjusted to the augmentations, and a natural leader.” another one said.

“Finally, a subject perfect to use the Flashpoint augmentation.” commented yet another scientist.

The last one spoke. “He will be the start of an elite group of man and mage not seen frequently…”

The first one replied to that comment, “But he will suffer through things much worse than this…from outside and in.” before the eyes closed for the final time.

Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
2:05 P.M.

Vincent was on the ground again, now truly affected by what Aurion had done. He had no will to get up again, nor did he want people to help him get up. “I-I held back…and Betrüger used her…to take me down, while she was somewhere else, dead….” Everyone else was coming into the room, checking to see Vincent’s status. He managed to roll on the floor, laying on his back. His eyes looked like he had seen horrors that only battle-hardened veterans of a war long-dragged had seen. Satsuki managed to approach him first. “Vince! It’s alright, don’t worry.” she said in an effort to calm his mind down. But he was still affected, something no one expected, not even Aurion himself.

Vincent got up from the floor, and so did Satsuki. He still looked at the floor while everyone else was waiting for any signs of life in Vincent. “Vince?” Satsuki asked. “You…you…you BITCH!” He then grabbed her by the throat, prepared Shell Bullet in Blattform, and pinned her to a wall nearby. “I should take YOU down!” he said to her angrily, still not able to know the difference between reality and illusion. He readied himself to not make the same mistake twice; he could have truly killed her. If it wasn’t for the fact that Aurion had Reikishi ready and the fact that something inside Vincent told him to stop, Satsuki would have died right there.

His eyes finally saw reality and Satsuki’s own eyes. They were not ones of a sadistic person, but one that was scared, confused, and hurt. “V-Vince, yamate…” she said weakly. He realized what he had done, and he now faced the prospect of nearly killing someone close, with his own hands. He realized what Betrüger showed him five days ago, and how it nearly came to be. Slowly, his eyes became like hers, and he loosened his grip. He looked down on the ground, then said reluctantly “I-I…I have to t-think about this….”

He left, a broken form of himself. Armay and Margaret tried to follow him, but Aurion stopped them. “Now all he needs is time…and another realization.”

Tuesday, June 2, MC 0075
5:54 P.M.

Satoshi was back at 216th Med Bay, having recovered from his strange dream. “Glad to see you’re awake.” Sydney said to him. “Hey, Syd…” he replied, still rubbing his head in pain. “You tend to have these things frequently, am I right?” Aurion said to him, having traveled here. “Hey Aurion…”

“You feeling better?” Sydney asked again.

“I’m alright for now. Aurion, I want to know what happened during that time.”

“It’s what you expected, with a couple of surprises. Sydney can come with us too, she knows everything.”

“Alright then.”

The Isolation Field went up and they started speaking. “So, how was the test?” Satoshi asked.“It’s true; he’ll go after Betrüger, no matter what, and he’s afraid of losing you guys.”; Aurion concluded.
“But there was something you might want to know about.” he added. “What do you mean? Was ther-“

“Vince nearly killed Satsuki, thinking that she was still an illusion.” Sydney explained to him, her voice filled with regret. “Wha?” he could only say. “That’s right; under certain circumstances, his mind could break down. It nearly did.”

“Luckily, he managed to control himself before any serious damage was done….”

“I’m glad that didn’t happen. Thanks, Aurion.”

“Right…I have to go now, I’ll see you guys later.”

Still, Satoshi knew that the words he said were forced. In truth, he felt guilty for himself and for Vince. He stayed silent as Aurion left the room. “Syd?”

“Yes?”

“I feel guilty….that this was my fault.” he said, looking up at the ceiling. “ I…” He had no words; he couldn’t explain them.

Sydney then sat down next to him. “I feel guilty too, then. I could have watched for you, but instead, I had to go off...” she said to him, trying to sound like part of the guilt was her own doing.

Satoshi knew what she was trying to do, put his right hand over hers, and said to her, smiling, “Thanks…”

Vincent was just laying down on the bed, wondering what happened. “I-I could have killed her…I can’t believe it….and all those things…”

“You wish to leave your friends out of the fight, boy?” Betrüger’s voice suddenly came out of the darkness. He could only hear his voice, but couldn’t see anything.

“Is that you, Aurion? Stop bullshitting with me again!” he said out loud, thinking that it was a trick.

“This is no trick, and I know what you truly want: a decisive fight, without anyone bothering you. I can read it; that is what you truly want.” Betrüger replied back, hoping to catch him into a trap. “Screw you, Aurion…” Vincent said, still thinking it was a trick.

“Then surely I wouldn’t know that you have feeling for the sniper?” Betrüger said to him.

“How did you-?”

“I can read minds, and I know you don’t want her to go out and die. You care for her. It would truly devastate you if she died in combat, which is why you stopped earlier today. You wouldn’t want her to get hurt, but you already have.”

“URUSAI!” Vincent yelled at his voice, but he still went for it. “Tell or use them, and I will force their minds into seeing the fear, hate, and anger you have. And I will manipulate them. I have the power. I’m no trick of the mind.”

Vincent took some time to think about this, but Betrüger knew what he would choose. “One-on-one; no help.” Vincent said confidently, taking the bait. “Alright then. I’ll be waiting.”

“Where?”

“La Peninsula de Los Muertos, Death Point. You know where it is.”

“I see…” Vincent said, and Betrüger’s voice became silent.

“I have no choice…I’m sorry, then.” he thought as he pulled a drawer out. It was empty, but he pulled the floor out to reveal two revolvers as well as several rounds. “Illegal…I need everything, though.” He pulled the two revolvers out and started checking them for any defects. One was with a silver finish, light in his hand. The other one was black and heavy, as though it was affected by sin. Twirling them around, he was satisfied that they were still working. Already loaded, he put them down on his bed and spoke to Shell Bullet. “The battle is coming. Time to hide.” Two compartments popped out of Shell Bullet, specially prepared to put those revolvers, as well as ammunition. “Lucky that Aurion never expected this.” he said to himself, smiling a bit as he started to put them inside. The compartments automatically closed, and he looked out of the window.

Those words came up in his mind as he was walking to where Betrüger was. A heavy rainstorm came, and by the time Vincent arrived, both of them were soaking wet. The seas were roaring, and waves were rising up, almost looking like it could take the whole point away. “A place of chaos, perfected by nature.” Betrüger quietly spoke to him as he stood up, his Device ready in an instant. “Get ready, there’s no escape for both of us this time. One will leave alive.”